The joy and madness of Black Friday – Boksburg Advertiser

Black Friday has come and gone.

Or maybe not. These days Black Friday is becoming Black Weekend, or Black Week, or Black Month, because the craziness with sales started long before November 29 and ends sometime after the last champagne cork has popped in 2020.

In South Africa, maybe we need to change the name, because as soon as you add any colour to an event you run the risk of being a racist, or politically incorrect or simply insensitive towards other racists.

Let us just make sure the government never gets its hands on this shopping spree in any way because, quite frankly, they do not have the Midas touch.

And talking of Midas, let us hope somebody is keeping an eye on our gold reserve at the Reserve Bank this time of year.

Sadly, our government in all honesty (since we are now embracing the Christmas spirit) is more like the Grinch than Midas. And if you do not know who the Grinch is, well, you probably dont have children.

This is a cynical grump who goes on a mission to steal Christmas. This is exactly what the government does 365 days a year stealing our joy and putting a huge damper on our Christmas cheer.

Unlike the story of the Grinch, who has a change of heart thanks to a young girls generous holiday spirit, very similar to the story of Charles Dickenss A Christmas Carol, we dont really foresee those snoozing in Cabinet having a change of heart any time soon.

It remains about self-gain and benefit, no matter if the masses are trodden upon and are forced to become like Oliver Twist, begging for another plate of food.

It is because of the antics of our government that people turn to Black Friday for that special time of year when their undervalued money magically steals a deal.

There is general confusion as to where the name originated from. One suggestion is that Black Friday is the name given to the shopping day after Thanksgiving in America. It was originally called Black Friday because the volume of shoppers created traffic accidents and sometimes even violence.

As South Africans we love to copy America, just like Halloween, even though Amazon brought the madness to the UK back in 2010.

This definition of mayhem surrounding Black Friday is also apt for South Africa.

After all, this is supposed to be a time of joy, cheer and finding relief from all the stress, but so often Black Friday/Week/Weekend/Month turns into a time of craziness, where adults behave like children, where rot breaks out and where tensions run high to the point where people almost suffer a nervous breakdown.

Yes, the Black Friday circus sounds like a meeting between the government and unions to broker a deal, but the reality is people love this time of year because, for once, we do not feel like victims.

This is a time when the consumer is truly king, or so we fool ourselves into believing.

Also, do not be fooled into thinking Black Friday is done and dusted. We still have a long road ahead until Christmas, so the sales will keep rolling in, and they will be disguised in different sales packages.

If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, then it must be duck. This also the case with continuous Black Friday deals.

PwC, in partnership with Opinium Research, recently published its research into South African consumer intentions ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday (December 2).

According to this research, consumers were apparently planning on spending 36 per cent more this year compared to 2018. This amounts to an expected average per-consumer spend of R3 812 during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period.

According to the continents largest automated payments clearing house, BankservAfrica, in 2018 they processed a total of 581 189 online transactions. Local shoppers spent nearly R3-billion in 4.8 million Back Friday sale transactions.

There is therefore a lot of money floating around this time of year, when the shopping addicts scream for joy, unable to control that impulse which manifests as the desire to constantly buy superfluous goods.

Let us be honest, ordinary consumers state value and usefulness as their primary motives for shopping, but on Black Friday, or whenever the shopping frenzy starts, it is a time for a lot of people to suddenly turn into compulsive buyers.

Black Friday is so successful because it helps to improve our mood, cope with stress and improve our self-image in times of doom and gloom.

It is also the time for cybercriminals to poach, right up to Christmas. Big events like Black Friday are a perfect opportunity for such criminals to flood inboxes with special offers that dont exist, leading shoppers to fake websites where they part with their banking details to fraudsters.

And despite so many warnings that not all online offers are a good deal, and to avoid the debt trap, how many people do not overstep such boundaries? We all know we are getting into trouble when buying something completely useless or which seems too good to be true, but heck, it still feels good.

With the cost of living set to rise next year, you can bet on Black Friday/Week/Weekend/Month cashing in.

The World Cup in Japan reminded us that it feels great to be a champion, even if it is for a day, and even if we need to resort to violence to get that TV we cannot really afford.

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The joy and madness of Black Friday - Boksburg Advertiser